This comparison exists because the decision is no longer Relay or Zapier; Relay closes for free users on August 15, 2026 and for paying customers on September 14, 2026 (full timeline in our shutdown explainer). The real question is what you lose and gain by rebuilding your Relay workflows in Zapier, and for which workflows something else fits better.
The short version: Zapier wins on reach. It connects to thousands of apps, it is mature, and its builder will feel familiar. What it does not share with Relay is the default: Relay put a human approval step at the center of automation, while Zapier runs Zaps unattended unless you add an approval step yourself and keep it maintained.
Side by side
| Relay.app | Zapier | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Shutting down: free ends Aug 15, paid Sep 14, 2026 | Established, actively developed |
| Human approval before actions execute The reason many teams chose Relay | Built in, first class | Optional step; Zaps run unattended by default |
| How you build | Visual workflow builder | Visual builder (Zaps), plus Tables, Interfaces, Canvas, and AI agents |
| App coverage | ~100+ apps | Thousands of apps, the largest catalog in the category |
| AI steps | AI drafting and reasoning steps | AI steps, AI by Zapier, and agent features |
| Pricing model | Was per-workspace with credits | Free plan; paid from about $20/mo, billed by tasks used |
| Migration path | Export: prompt.md + workflow.json per workflow | Published a dedicated Relay migration guide |
Who Zapier is for
Pick Zapier if your Relay workflows touch many different apps, if you want the largest ecosystem and template library in the category, or if unattended automation is fine for most of what you run. Zapier has also published its own Relay migration guide, and its AI can help rebuild workflows from Relay's exported prompt.md files. For pure app-to-app plumbing, it is the obvious default.
What you give up from Relay
The approval-first model. In Relay, a person reviewing the AI's work before it executed was the product's spine. In Zapier, approval is a step you add per Zap and re-add every time you build something new, and most of the ecosystem's templates assume no human in the loop. Teams that ran Relay workflows for outbound money and customer communication, invoices, payment reminders, quotes, should weigh that difference heavily.
Where flo.space fits in this decision
flo.space (this site) is not a Zapier competitor on breadth; it connects to 14 business tools, not thousands. It exists for the workflows where Relay's approval step mattered most: AI drafts the invoice, the reply, or the order update from Gmail, QuickBooks, Shopify, or Stripe, and a person approves before anything sends. A common landing spot for Relay teams is Zapier for the long tail of plumbing and an approval-first tool for customer-facing sends. The full alternative comparison covers this in more depth.
Common questions
Not natively. No tool imports Relay workflow JSON directly; Relay recommends pasting the exported prompt.md into an AI assistant or a builder with AI features. Zapier’s Relay migration guide walks through rebuilding, and its AI builder can work from those prompts.
Zapier can pause a Zap for human input or approval as an optional step, but it is not the default and most templates assume unattended execution. If approve-before-send is your core requirement, evaluate that workflow specifically, or use an approval-first product for those flows.
Zapier has a free plan and paid plans from roughly $20 per month billed annually, metered by tasks. Whether it is cheaper than Relay was depends entirely on your run volume; high-volume workflows can cost more under task billing.
Export your Relay data now (generation can take 24 hours; the download link lasts 48 hours). Free accounts end August 15, 2026, paid accounts September 14, 2026. The rebuild in a new tool can happen after those dates if your export is safe.
Keep approval at the center
If your Relay workflows sent invoices, replies, and orders, flo.space prepares those from your tools and waits for your approval. Nothing sends itself.